Inverted
by SevenAgainstThebes
Summary: [on hiatus] WIP With the help of the Potions Master, Hermione navigates her way out of the darkness that clouds her mind.
1. Interloper

Title: Inverted  
  
Author: SevenAgainstThebes  
  
E-mail: sevenagainst_thebes@yahoo.com  
  
Pairings: HG/SS eventually  
  
Disclaimer: JKR owns all HP characters, places, etc. etc....I merely get to borrow them for this little writing exercise.  
  
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Chapter 1: Interloper  
  
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'Someone broke through my wards,' was Snape's first thought as he came upon the slightly open door to his private chambers. His wand held at the ready, he kicked the door open and entered.  
  
There was no one there.   
  
He did a quick appraisal of the room and found nothing out of place. Still, the feeling that someone was there bothered him. And then a figure in white stepped out of the shadows and into the light from the fireplace.  
  
"Miss Granger...shouldn't you-"  
  
Her appearance stopped him abruptly. Normally, whenever he came upon her on school grounds, she was dressed neatly in her school uniform, her hair twisted up in a bun and a serious expression on her face. Even when he encountered her in her robe and slippers during her late night rounds about the school, she at least looked presentable. But now...she was in a state of disarray. The mess of brown curls in her face and the slightly glazed look of her eyes alarmed him but what really shocked him was the contrast between the stark whiteness of her nightdress and the splashes of red that stained the front of it.   
  
"It's not blood, if you're wondering, sir. I had trouble opening a bottle of your wine and it spilled on me." she said calmly. From behind her back, she brought out a wine glass that still had red liquid in it. At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged nonchalantly. "I fancied a drink."  
  
"So you decided to wander down to the dungeons this late at night, break through my wards and steal a bottle of my wine? How utterly befitting of the Head Girl." he said sarcastically. Even while his face remained impassive, his mind was analyzing her every action. She didn't seem mentally unstable, but her eyes still had that glassy look to them.   
  
She blinked twice and opened her mouth as if to say something but then stopped.  
  
"Imitating a goldfish, are we?"   
  
She made no reply and simply continued to stare at him. He let a few moments of silence pass before he held out a hand to her. "Come, Miss Granger. You must get back to the infirmary. As you are not well at the moment, I will overlook your indiscretions tonight and not take away House points."  
  
"Does it really matter anymore?" she whispered, not noticing his outstretched hand.  
  
"Need I remind you again that you are not well? Let a few days pass and you will be back amongst your classmates; chattering endlessly about how unfair 'greasy Professor Snape' is for taking away your precious House points."   
  
She wouldn't take his hand and still had the wine glass poised halfway to her mouth so he moved to take it from her. After trying unsuccessfully to extract the glass from her fingers, he stopped and looked at her directly. "Miss Granger, I must warn you to not push your luck with me. Your bed in the infirmary is waiting and Poppy will have my head if I don't escort you back there."  
  
"It doesn't help. The infirmary, the medicinal potions....nothing helps. Whenever I close my eyes, the images come back. His broken body...his blood on my hands..." Hermione trailed off.  
  
Snape sighed. "Try not to dwell, Miss Granger. After all, there is nothing you can do for Mr. Potter now. Professor Dumbledore has assured the staff that he will make a full recovery."  
  
"Harry avoids me, you know." She turned his face away from Snape's piercing gaze. "When I get up at night to check on him, he turns away from me. I tried brushing the hair away from his face once, and he grimaced."  
  
"It seems like Mr. Potter still has some demons to fight before he can join all of us in the conscious world. Don't be offended; Professor McGonagall, your esteemed Head of House, nearly had her eyes gouged out by Potter's unconscious flailings." He noticed the slight upturn of the side of her mouth. "Now come, I must escort you back."   
  
Hermione put the wine glass down on a small table laden with books and reached for his hand. When she saw that he wasn't about to give her his hand again, she looked up at him cautiously.  
  
Heaving a deep exaggerated sigh, he took her hand. "Well if you insist, Miss Granger." 


	2. Back to the Infirmary

Title: Inverted 

Author: SevenAgainstThebes

E-mail: sevenagainst_thebes@yahoo.com

Pairings: HG/SS eventually

Disclaimer: JKR owns all HP characters, places, etc. etc....I merely get to borrow them for this little writing exercise.

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Chapter 2: Back to the Infirmary

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They silently made their way through the castle. 

"We're lucky it's late, Miss Granger. Had we made our way back to the infirmary like this," he gestured to their clasped hands and her wine stained nightdress, "merely an hour earlier, we would have encountered some of your schoolmates sneaking back from their late night trysts and of course, after seeing us, they would have plenty to gossip about."

Faced with nothing but silence at his comment, Snape glanced over at her. After nearly seven years of being her instructor in Potions, he was used to seeing her as the eager student with her hand raised high in class and a ready answer should he call on her; which wasn't often if only because it was easy to take off points when he called on her less knowledgeable classmates.  

Privately, he admitted that he missed her forceful know-it-all presence. Her sarcastic quips in response to his biting remarks during class had even started to amuse him. In contrast, the plodding automaton by his side was rather unnerving.  

"Miss Granger." 

Hermione continued to walk along silently.

"Miss Granger," he repeated, a little loudly this time. His words fell on her unhearing ears. He stopped and jerked on her arm to get her to face him. "Miss Granger! I demand that you stop with this--"

For the second time that night, he found himself unable to finish his sentence. Hermione was now facing him and her eyes, which were normally brown, were now a fathomless black. She stared at him unblinkingly for a second and then attacked him. 

They both fell to the ground. Raising one arm to ward off her fists from his face, Snape reached for his wand which was then promptly grabbed by Hermione and snapped in half. She got up, threw the pieces to the floor and stood there laughing. Hunched over and pretending that she had bruised his ribs, Snape slowly reached for his second wand that was hidden on the inside of his outer robes. Hermione's hysterical laughter stopped suddenly.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you, Severus," Her voice was low and harsh. She moved closer to him. "My traitorous Death Eater...what did I do to make you turn from me?"

With one swift motion, Snape rose from his crouched position and backhanded her across the face. Her head snapped back and she fell to the ground. For a moment, she didn't move and in the stillness that pervaded the hallway, he could hear her breathing shakily. 

Hermione laughed weakly. "Thanks Professor, for being an absolute bastard." 

"Anytime, Miss Granger. That didn't hurt too badly did it?" 

"No, not at all. I couldn't feel anything actually...having Voldemort in your head kind of distracts you, you know?" She got up slowly and they started walking again.

"I'm assuming the alcohol you had earlier lowered your inhibitions and allowed him free reign through your mind." Here, Snape stopped and searched the pockets of his robes for something. He pulled out a small vial filled with an amber liquid and handed it to her.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"It'll remove the effects of alcohol on your system. A convenient potion for those wizards and witches who like their alcohol, yet are less than enamored with its side effects." Seeing the hesitant look on her face, he took back the vial, popped the cap open and handed it back to her. "Drink it. I haven't felt the urge to poison any students as of late."

She took the vial and drank the potion. "And why would you be carrying this around with you?" 

"On the rare occasion that I come upon drunken Gryffindors in my private chambers and need them to have their thought processing abilities. I find it difficult to scare those who are inebriated and have it in their heads that I am merely 'joking' around about detention for an as yet undetermined length of time."

"But you said you wouldn't-" 

He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "I merely said I wouldn't take House points from you. Professor McGonagall would have an apoplectic fit if she heard that I was less than understanding of your current state of affairs. Professor Dumbledore would then subject me to one of his long winded talks and frankly, I've had enough of those in my lifetime." 

"So I now have detention with you for how long?"

"You used to be so quick on the uptake, Miss Granger. It was only a few seconds ago that I said detention would be for an as yet undetermined length of time. Shall we continue walking?" They started walking once again.

After a few paces, Hermione looked up at him again. "So...detention...with you...for however long you decide I should continue. Honestly, do you like having students suffer under your every whim?"

"Another wizard, one far more powerful than I am, has your mind currently at his mercy. Although one would not normally equate mercy with the Dark Lord."

Comprehension dawned in her eyes. "You're going to teach me occlumency." 

"Correct." They stopped at the entrance of the infirmary. "And here we are. I will now leave you to Madam Pomfrey's care. Good night, Miss Granger." He turned to leave and paused. "And next time, I won't be so kind if I ever find you in my private chambers again. I don't even know how you broke through my wards."

"Well you see, sir, when I arrived at your chambers, there were none."

"Oh." Snape looked slightly peeved and then shrugged. "I must have forgotten to put them up before going to the Headmaster's office." 

"You've been nicer this evening then I've ever seen you before." Hermione looked at him appraisingly. "Are you sure you aren't under some kind of mind control?"

"No, Miss Granger, I am not. Contrary to what most people think, I do have the ability to empathize. I certainly can in your case. But all explanations will have to wait until you start detention. Again, good night." He nodded at her and proceeded back to the dungeons.


	3. The Little Voice That Nags

Title: Inverted 

Author: SevenAgainstThebes

E-mail: sevenagainst_thebes@yahoo.com

Pairings: HG/SS eventually

Disclaimer: JKR owns all HP characters, places, etc. etc....I merely get to borrow them for this little writing exercise.

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Chapter 3: The Little Voice That Nags 

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There were two patients in the infirmary that night. One was Harry Potter, lying comatose for two days now. The other was Hermione Granger, who after being escorted back by Professor Snape, refused to sleep. Madam Pomfrey, who stayed awake to check on Harry at hourly intervals, offered Hermione a Dreamless Sleep potion; one which she refused to take, citing "possible addictive qualities." 

But the real reason why she refused to sucuumb to the pleasant darkness that her heavily drooping eyelids offered was because she was afraid.

_'Voldemort might try to break into my mind again.'_ she warned herself.

Now that the strange excursion to the dungeons and back was over, and now that she was alone with her thoughts again in the shadowy infirmary, the darker emotions that lurked beneath the normally placid surface of her demeanor threatened to come out to the open. 

_'Where's Snape when you need him?'_ she smiled wearily to herself. Professor Snape (and a bottle of his wine) had been a welcome diversion. Unlike everyone else whom she had encountered so far, he tempered his sympathy ('_Who would ever think he could be sympathetic?_') with a hint of coldness. In fact, the backhand he dealt her was practically brutal. She rubbed the tender spot on her face where his hand had connected so forcefully. 

_'No one thought to do that last time....they all stood there and screamed in horror. If Professor Dumbledore hadn't gotten there so quickly and cast a counterspell...'_ she shuddered.

A sleepy murmur came from the bed hidden behind the screens at the far end of the infirmary.

"Harry?" Hermione immediately went over to his section of the ward. Pushing aside the screens, she looked down upon one of her best friends. Harry was covered in cloth bandages that smelled distinctly like the herbal poultices that Hermione helped make the other day when the guilt became too much to bear. 

She noticed his lips moving but no sound came out of them. Bending down to brush the hair out of his face, she whispered, "Harry, I'm sorry. Please wake up. I didn't know what I was doing."

But the insistent nagging voice in her head told her otherwise. _'You did know. Once you snapped out of Voldemort's little mind control ploy you kept at it. You knew perfectly well what you were doing. You were angry; every single time he and Ron made fun of you for studying, every single time they ignored you and pushed you away when you tried to help. You felt like he deserved it.'_

Choking back a sob, she retreated back to her bed. Mere moments ago she would have considered staying awake a more preferable alternative to the limbo state of sleep where her mind would be quite defenseless. Except now the nagging voice was louder than ever and the deep feelings of guilt washed over her once again.

The black flask of Dreamless Sleep seemed much more welcome now.

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Much thanks to those who reviewed!

Cheers ^_^

SevenAgainstThebes


	4. Another Long Winded Talk

Title: Inverted 

Author: SevenAgainstThebes

E-mail: sevenagainst_thebes@yahoo.com

Pairings: HG/SS eventually

Disclaimer: JKR owns all HP characters, places, etc. etc....I merely get to borrow them for this little writing exercise.

*Note: Lots and lots of dialogue here......*

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Chapter 4: Another Long Winded Talk

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When Severus Snape arrived back at his private chambers, he was not at all surprised to find another visitor.

"Two visitors in one night. How _wonderful_." Snape said dryly. "Please sit, Headmaster."

"Thank you, Severus. Have a seat yourself." Albus Dumbledore settled himself into the second chair by the fireplace. "You found Miss Granger, I presume?"

"Yes, she was in here when I came back from the staff meeting. I escorted her back to the infirmary." 

"Good, good..." Dumbledore trailed off.

Snape rubbed his temples with his fingers. "It's quite late, Albus. I don't mean to be rude, but if this isn't a social call, please make it known now."

Dumbledore sighed and his intent gaze focused on Snape. "Hermione Granger is a witch with a capacity for greatness. She is also one of Harry Potter's closest friends. Those two things have sparked Voldemort's interest in her as a useful pawn against Harry. A third unknown element has also proven to make her an efficient weapon for his use. We must find out what exactly that third element is."

"You have not tried to interrogate her about the events on the 31st?" Snape asked.

"Unfortunately, my attempts to question her have been answered with a plea for more time to process through what occurred. The information we have now concerning the incident on Halloween are simply those that we have cobbled together from the reports of students and faculty. Miss Granger, on a visit to Hogsmeade, was separated from her friends. They returned to Hogwarts without her, expecting to find her back already. She wasn't. She remained missing until halfway through the Halloween feast. That was when she snuck through the doors of the Great Hall and went to her seat at the Gryffindor table. Professor McGonagall noted her tardiness, took her to the side, lectured her privately and assigned her a detention. The girl returned to her seat and had what seemed to be a normal meal with her friends.

"Later that evening, she went up to Mr. Potter and asked if she could talk to him in her room. Mr. Ron Weasley asked if he could come along but Miss Granger rejected his request, stating that she and Harry needed to talk about his progress in his classes. This was not out of the ordinary as, due to his heavy Quidditch duties as captain, Mr. Potter started to fall behind in his classes. Miss Granger offered to tutor him. Also, as one of her duties as Head Girl, from time to time she would speak privately to various students on issues she felt were of concern.

"Nearly ten minutes passed before Mr. Weasley noticed that Mr. Potter had accidentally left his Transfiguration homework on the table. Remembering that Mr. Potter had voiced his need for help on a few problems, and needing help himself, Mr. Weasley made his way to the Head Girl's room. He stood outside the door and knocked. No one came to open the door. He could hear nothing from inside the room. This was later found to be due to a powerful Silencing Charm. No trace of light could be seen at the edges of the door. Mr. Weasley grew nervous, remembering Miss Granger's disappearance earlier in the day. He tried knocking again, yelling their names this time. No answer. He tried the basic _Alohomora_ spell. The door would not open. He then used the Blasting Charm." Dumbledore paused.

Snape raised his eyebrows. "Destructive but effective...Weasley does have a bit of sense in that head of his."

"Yes. Mr. Weasley is a bright young man and quite a courageous and loyal friend." Dumbledore closed his eyes briefly, seemingly arranging his thoughts, and then continued. "After Mr. Weasley blasted in the door, he came upon a most horrific scene. Mr. Potter was lying on the ground, nearly unconscious. His glasses lay by his side, broken. His wand, snapped and tossed into a corner of the room. Miss Granger, or what he thought to be Miss Granger, was kneeling by Mr. Potter's body. She held a dagger in one hand and in the other was what we later identified as a blade that is used to skin animals. Where she got those weapons, we do not know. Mr. Potter was apparently conscious enough to realize that Mr. Weasley was in the room. Mr. Weasley yelled for help and ran over to try to stop Miss Granger from stabbing Mr. Potter. Other students soon came into the room. One of them apparently slapped Miss Granger in the face. She started crying but continued to plunge the dagger back into Mr. Potter's body. Their attempts to hold her arms back or take the weapons away from her were to no avail."

"How unfortunate that none of them thought to disarm her with a spell." Snape muttered.

"Luckily for Mr. Potter, Fawkes, being the perceptive phoenix that he is, alerted me to a problem in Gryffindor Tower. I arrived on the scene a second later, disarmed Miss Granger and as a precaution, cast a counterspell that would rectify what I assumed to be the problem. And that, is what we know so far." Dumbledore leaned back in the chair.

 "You cast _Consciusimens_ on her."

"I wouldn't recommend it to be used again. The spell has the delightful effect of bringing all of your mind's thoughts, feelings, memories to the surface all at once. You are basically overcome with your own mind. It brought Miss Granger back but is also causing her to suffer mood swings and affecting her sleeping habits by pushing her to dwell on her own thoughts and emotions. She is mentally and emotionally vulnerable at the moment; not to mention physically drained from the use of magic. It seems Mr. Potter fought back when she attacked." Pulling out his wand, Dumbledore conjured a cup of tea. He sipped at it thoughtfully and glanced over at Snape. 

Snape rubbed his eyes. "You have requested that I teach her Occlumency," he said tiredly. 

"Quite correct, Severus."

"Occlumency will not work completely with Inverterimency. You know that as well as I do." Snape stifled a yawn. "My apologies, Albus. It is nearly 2 and I have been up since 5 this morning."

Dumbledore waved off his apologies. "I am afraid I have kept you up too late. But before I leave, let me remind you that Occlumency may not be absolutely effective, but you should recall that it was I who instructed you in Occlumency and it did help, did it not?"

"Yes, and I am grateful for the lessons but—"

"You are the only one who understands her situation." Dumbledore got up and walked closer to the fireplace. From the pockets of his robes, he took out a pinch of Floo powder and threw it in the flames, which then glowed green. Before he stepped into the flames, he turned back and addressed Snape once more. "Help her conquer her fears, Severus, and maybe you'll conquer your own."

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Conciusimens – cognizant of (conscius); the mind (mens)

Inverterimency – to turn, twist (invertere); the mind (mens)

I really hope I'm using the Latin terms right. If not, please let me know what I did wrong. Thanks! :)

Hermione and Severus interaction in the next chapter! I promise :)


	5. Normal

Title: Inverted 

Author: SevenAgainstThebes

E-mail: sevenagainst_thebes@yahoo.com

Pairings: HG/SS eventually

Disclaimer: JKR owns all HP characters, places, etc. etc....I merely get to borrow them for this little writing exercise.

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Chapter 5:  Normal

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Hermione pulled up the blankets to her chin and in her most persuasive tone, she said, "Madam Pomfrey, I really think I should stay in the infirmary a little longer." 

"Nonsense, Miss Granger. You look all right to me and the Headmaster has said that you are to resume your normal schedule today." Madam Pomfrey laid down her school uniform and robes on the bed and patted her reassuringly on the head. "Now get out of bed, dear, and you'll have breakfast in the Great Hall this morning."

"But what if something happens again?" she persisted.  

"Please cease with this irritating melodramatic behavior, Miss Granger." Snape had entered the infirmary and stood with his arms crossed at the doorway. "The Headmaster has already arranged for some precautionary measures so there is no real reason for you to insist on staying in the infirmary." He lip curled into his customary sneer. "In my opinion however, having both you and Potter out of my classes is no great loss."

Hermione glared at him, kicked off the blankets and stalked off to the bathroom with her clothes in her arms. After the door closed behind her, Madam Pomfrey turned her attention to Snape.

"Now, Severus, I really hope you're going to be a little more gentle with the girl. She's been through a lot these past couple of days."

"Poppy, most people would think I'm being positively _pleasant_ to the girl. I haven't made her cry yet have I?" Snape said wryly.

In response to that comment, Madam Pomfrey smacked him on the arm. "Don't you even dare, Severus. Albus would have a fit."

"Not to worry, Poppy. Albus has already given me the "you-must-play-nice-with-others" speech more times than I can count." He moved further into the room and sat down in one of the chairs that were against the wall. "I only need to have a quick word with Miss Granger."

The bathroom door opened and Hermione walked out, her neatly folded nightdress in her arms. "Madam Pomfrey, I need to get this washed." With a sidelong glance at Snape, she continued. "I spilled something on it last night."

"Of course, dear. I'll just take it and have it returned to your room later this afternoon." Madam Pomfrey gestured at Snape. "Professor Snape needs to talk to you." She left the room.

"Miss Granger." Snape tried to catch her eye, but Hermione was resolutely avoiding his gaze. "I have come to inform you that after dinner tonight, you are to report to my office for detention."

She nodded, signaling that she had heard what he had said. "Is that _all_, Professor?"

"I also want you to stop behaving like a tantrum throwing five year old and start acting like the mature young lady that all your other professors insist you are."

 "Fine." She spat out, between tightly clenched teeth. "I'll do that just as soon as you stop behaving like the greasy git in the classroom and start acting like a decent human being." 

As she left, he looked after her with something bordering on amusement. 

_________

"Hermione." 

She looked up from her food to meet the troubled look that Ron Weasley was giving her. "Ron." 

"You're all right then?"

"I think so." She bit her lip. "I didn't hurt you badly, did I?"

"Nah, Madam Pomfrey healed me right away." He sat down next to her. "Is Harry going to be all right?"

"Professor Dumbledore thinks so," she said slowly. "I'm really sorry, Ron. I don't know what happened...I just blanked out and the next thing I can clearly remember is being in the infirmary."

"I'm just glad you're back, Hermione." Ron gave her a lopsided grin. "Can you pass me the pumpkin juice?"

She smiled and passed him the pewter jug. "I have detention tonight."

"Detention?" Ron lifted the goblet of juice to his mouth. "What for? If there's one person to blame for this mess, it's You-Know-Who. It's not like you _wanted_ to hurt Harry."

_'Did I?'_ she wondered. "I think Professor Dumbledore wants me to take Occlumency with Professor Snape."

Ron choked on the pumpkin juice. He coughed and blotted at his face with a napkin. "Snape?! But he threw Harry out last time! Didn't even want to teach him because Harry found out something about his past."

"I know."

"So are you going to go to Dumbledore and tell him that you can't learn Occlumency from Snape?"

She glanced at the staff table where Snape sat, morosely sipping at his coffee. "I don't know...I mean, Professor Snape hasn't done anything bad to me yet."

"For your sake, Hermione, I hope he doesn't. I don't think we can afford to have you go crazy on us again." He gave her a hug. "Now that we've got you back, maybe Harry will come around soon."

"I hope he does."

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